"Back to High School, Again"

Five years ago, if someone mentioned the name Zac Efron, you'd be like Zac who? Undoubtedly, the man himself would even testify to that.

For the first half of this past decade, Efron himself was a relative unknown, scoring minor success with guest roles in various TV series. However, once a Disney Channel TV movie called High School Musical came along, everything changed for the young actor literally overnight.

He propelled to instant stardom and secured a coveted place with mostly prepubescent young girls as a teen idol as High School Musical exploded into the surprise phenomenon of the decade. Now at just 21 years old, Zac, having already secured some Hollywood credibility with a role in the remake of Hairspray, hopes to continue exceeding expectations with a role as Mike O'Donnell in the new teen comedy 17 Again. He says, in no uncertain terms, that timing of the role was, in fact, absolutely impeccable.

"It was exactly what I was looking for," Efron believes, "This was an opportunity to work with a brilliant cast and an amazing cast. And, yeah, it was a chance to switch it up. It does take place in a high school setting, but it's not a very high school character, so that's what I want to do more of."

Efron plays the younger self of a middle-aged man, played by Matthew Perry who is transformed back into a 17 year-old after he falls into a river. He talks about what it was like having to essentially share a role with Perry, along with the matter of who shot first exactly.

"It was hard work," Zac recalls, "Who did shoot first? We went back and forth. It was all mixed up. I think Matthew shot a couple of days, then I'd come in and shoot. I was able to see a couple of scenes that Matt had done, for sure."

"But I know that most of the work we did on figuring out the character was

"Back to High School, Again"

done just during the rehearsals," he continues, "We had a couple of days when we were able to just hang out and talk and figure out the key moments that was just really just Matthew's line that I was saying."

Zac says he had a relatively simple method for playing what is essentially a 37 year-old man in a 17 year-old's body.

"I thought about the way my dad would have those talks with me and my little brother," he says, "He was always very passionate and energetic and he delivered it like a champ. I mean, he was really excited, I think that's how it came out, in the movie."

When we had Efron discuss a scene he particularly enjoyed, he mentions a particularly loopy scene that involves a mock-lightsaber battle with co star Thomas Lennon, who plays Mike's best friend Ned Freeman in the film.

"That was serious," he remembers, "There were a couple of injuries, but, one day I hit Tom pretty hard. I just thank God it was during rehearsals with the rehearsal lightsabers, because if we had been filming a real take, we use real lightsabers."

"I'm pretty sure he would have had a less face right now," Zac adds, "That was the fun thing with Tom was that we didn't have to stick to what was written. We tried to, but it was virtually impossible with Tom."

Zac claims another scene that was particularly fun for him was a group slapping scene.

"It was amazing watching everyone have so much fun that night," Efron says, "No, that was funny, it started slow and Tom was very nice about it, there's no way to fake a slap. We're just going to have to go for it and he did it and I'm glad he did it. It was more like a closed fist, a clubbing, at one point or another."

"We had a stunt coordinator who was instructing everybody how to slap and he goes, you guys

"Back to High School, Again"

really got to sell it!You have to slap him!" he continues, "And I'm sitting there like, they're slapping me, bro. The dude fell down and it was like, that was great."

In keeping with the film's theme of what it would be like if you could go back to high school, we fired Efron with plenty of questions on the subject. First was whether or not had a nerdy period in high school.

"I was pretty cool, until about freshman year of high school," Zac replies, "It was downhill till about 17. And then, something happened and it all came back. But that was pretty much during the time I was just average. I worked hard in school, got good grades, it was not that cool, so to speak, well, I thought I was cool. I wasn't bullied that bad or anything like that, but I just wasn't like the it guy at school."

Second was whether Zac ever got into trouble.

"Yeah, I looked at a couple papers, taking tests, stuff like that, it was small things," he replies, "I got in trouble once. I actually got sent home once from high school because I went up to the front of my Spanish class at Spanish III."

"I was going to write up a sentence on the board and my pants fell down in front of the class," Efron adds, "Everyone was laughing, it wasn't a big deal, but the teacher got really flustered and upset and sent me home. That was probably the most I got in trouble. It was a 'wardrobe malfunction', sure."

We also asked Efron whether he feels life is simpler at 17 versus being 21.

"Everything's heightened, because you feel like you're an adult at 17," Zac says, "You have the social awareness of an adult, but that doesn't really apply in high school because everyone's young and stupid, so it's hard. You take it too seriously and so, I think I'd probably go back and

"Back to High School, Again"

tell myself to chill out, this is just the beginning and get ready because stuff's about to pop off. It's like, God, I cannot wait to grow up. I can't wait. Apparently, it's just getting exciting right now."

We even posed the question with whether he believed any kid in high school would benefit from being friends with the Zac Efron of today.

"In high school, man, it would not have helped," Efron believes, "I had friends from all different cliques, so to speak. I didn't stick to one group of friends. I had them in all different areas of high school. But I'm sure, yeah, I had several of these friendships, I think."

We wondered also if he'd ever at least help play matchmaker for someone, like his character Mike does with his teen children he encounters at school in the film.

"Maybe with some best friends or close friends, but it's not like a top priority in life, really. I think they're doing pretty good with themselves," Zac replies.

While we were on the subject, we asked Zac how many best friends he has now.

"My best friend?" Efron responds, "I think I got four or five best friends. I guess we're all are about the same. We're kind of geeky, fun-loving kind of guys."

Being the country's biggest male teen idol has made the young star a target for relentless media scrutiny. We asked Efron to clear the air to recent article in Parade magazine that alleged that he was having a difficult time handling fame.

"Oh, gosh! Thanks!" Zac says, "I'm honestly really not having a tough time. You know, the one question I've been asked for this movie is if you could go back, would you change anything? If you could be 17 all over again, what would you do different? Would you go down this road? I'm like, absolutely, man."

"This is the best job in the world," he continues, "I'm having the time of my life. I

"Back to High School, Again"

wake up everyday with a new challenge, whether it's filming, learning a new skill set, interviews, press, that kind of stuff, it's always fun, it's always interesting, it's always a challenge. I'm very happy with that and I'm very happy with my life right now."

One particular story currently dogging the young star was his recent decision to back out of an upcoming remake of the 1984 hit Footloose currently being filmed. When asked his reasons, Zac's explanation was a simple one.

"I was just looking for a change," he states.

One thing Efron says he's particularly excited about at the moment is his upcoming gig hosting NBC's venerable TV sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live.

"I'm so excited to host SNL," Zac enthuses, "It's been a dream of mine since I was 10 years old. I mean improv is pretty much how I got started. They do more sketch comedy, but, yeah, this is how I started. This is what I want to get back to. I think it's going to be a great week. I can't wait."

Zac also says that he enjoyed working with 17 Again director Burr Stevens so much that he plans to act in the filmmaker's next movie.

"I'm putting something together with Burr." Efron says, "It's early in development now, but it's called The Death And Life of Charlie St. Cloud."

Finally, with all the whirlwind of success and pandemonium and fame Zac Efron has had to endure since High School Musical's popularity propelled his meteoric rise, we asked the actor if a summer vacation may be well-deserved after all this.

"Summer vacation?" Zac simply replies, "Hopefully, I won't have a summer vacation."